The Great Thief of Albany
by Tennessee McCreary
Summary: Six months after Elliot left without a goodbye, he becomes an eye-witness. But her old partner becomes the least of Olivia's problems when Melinda and Fin get in a hostage situation, Casey may be the next victim, and Alex keeps finding links to her past.
1. Chapter 1

It was a case just like any other case. Nothing seemed out of the norm for it. At least, nothing that is out of the norm for a rape and murder case. There was a body that was left cold and abandoned in some undignified place in the city of New York. She was dead. She had been raped. Her life had been taken from her in the most evil way available.

The detectives sent to the scene of the crime were Olivia Benson and Odafin Tutuola. It was cloudy that day, the was whipping around the hair of everybody unfortunate enough not to have a hairband. Olivia Benson was one such person. She would start of the case annoyed with the wind.

Both were slightly surprised to see the medical examiner Melinda Warner examining the body.

**Two Facts About Melinda Warner  
>She hated the cold.<br>She hated the wind even more.**

Her hair had been nicely pulled back in a ponytail, effectively keeping it out of her face. This allowed the two detectives to see the scowl on her face.

"Bodies and wind," she had muttered, "Just what everybody wants to wake up too."

Olivia found herself envying the medical examiner a little bit. Her hair was out of her face. The wind was blowing her hair so hard, Olivia felt her cheeks might get welts.

"Melinda, do you have an extra hairband?"

"I though all females kept hairbands on their wrist?" Fin joked, "Or, was it not your shift to wear one today?"

Melinda rolled her eyes, and pulled one off her wrist. The two women chose not to respond to their co-worker's comment.

"You're lucky most of the interns forget they have to have their hair back," Melinda said. She gave Olivia the closest thing to smile she could muster in her irritated mood.

Olivia gave her version of the smile, and looked the body. The small smile she had faded instantly, as they looked at the scene of the crime.

**The Scene of the Crime  
>A red-headed woman was scattered on the ground. Her red hair a mess around her head.<br>Her clothes were torn.  
>Dried blood surrounded her.<br>Her eyes were open, revealing the look of fear that would forever be present in her face.**

"I hate my job sometimes," Fin mumbled. Olivia sighed. She had to agree with him.

"Did you find anything to identify her with?" Olivia asked the medical examiner. The woman responded with throwing her a wallet. Olivia sighed, and opened it up.

**Information Found in the Victim's Wallet  
>Her name was Leah Healy<br>She was 39 years old.  
>She was a organ donor.<br>****She was a natural red-head.**

"So we can rule out robbery gone bad," Olivia said.

"Not necessarily…" Melinda said, "You two…have you not talked to the eyewitness yet?"

Judging from the looks on the two detectives faces, she could tell that this was news to them.

"There's an eyewitness?" Fin asked.

"We were kind of rushed here with no explanation," Olivia explained, "All we were told was that it was a rape homicide."

Melinda sighed, and Olivia noticed that the look on her face seemed to look even more un-happy.

"I thought you seemed unusually level-headed," Melinda said. Olivia figured she should be insulted by her co-workers comment, but she was too curious.

"Who is-"

And then she saw him, talking with another cop. The broad man seemed shaken, but he looked to be calmly talking to the man. And then he noticed her, standing there. His face paled.

**The Eye Witness's Name  
>Elliot Stabler<strong>

* * *

><p>"So, we finally get to meet the infamous Elliot Stabler?"<p>

"Looks like it. Kinda ironic, that it was him, don't you think?"

Olivia could hear the two detectives talking from outside the door. They didn't know she could hear every word. She chose not to focus on that, but focus on her friend in the room. Alex Cabot, the ADA. She had just been randomly down at the station, giving everyone cups of coffee from her favorite store. She knew how horrible Munch's coffee was. Luckily, he wasn't here to complain to her like he always did when she brought the beverage. He was the lucky one who got to tell Leah Healy's family that she was raped and murdered.

Alex had heard the news from when she first came in the room. She had some time before she needed to head back to work. She decided to talk to her friend about the whole situation.

"At least we get to see him again," she said. It was her attempt at optimism. She didn't use it often.

"Yeah," Olivia mumbled. It didn't take a moron to tell that she was upset about this. And nobody could blame her. Everyone knew how close she was to Elliot. They were best friends, an inseparable team. Then one day, he just disappears. No goodbyes. No explanations. He just retired, and nobody heard from his sense.

The closest the team ever came was when Casey Novak informed the team she had seen Elliot at the park with his youngest son. In return for the information, the lawyer got to deal with a grumpy detective for the rest of the day.

**The Best Word to Sum up the Cause of Olivia Benson's Anger  
>Abandonment.<strong>

Everyone knew Olivia was angry with him. She had every right to be. After everything they'd been through, Elliot didn't even leave her a lousy hallmark card. Her just disappeared. He didn't even clean out his own desk. Alex would be very interested in seeing how he explained himself.

That's when they heard it. The angered screaming of words not in the English dictionary. Russian, perhaps?

Olivia and Alex walked out to see what all the commotion was about.

They walked in the squad room just in time to see Rollins and Amaro helping Fin take a man into interrogation. Melinda Warner was there, for whatever reason, trying to avoid the confrontation. Even though it was in another language, everyone could tell the man was screaming words that would most likely be censored on television if deciphered.

But Olivia's mind was taken off of that once again. Standing on the other side of the room, opposite of Melinda Warner, was Elliot in all his glory. He was looking at her. Again. She was not in the mood for this. As much as she wanted to march up to him and yell everything she thought of him, there was already one person screaming expletives in the building. No need for another.

Instead, she just followed the rest of the detectives into the interrogation room. Not wanting to be the ones to talk to Elliot, Alex and Melinda soon followed.

When the three woman entered the room, they could see that the three detectives had successfully gotten the man into the interrogation room. Now, they all sat staring at him through the glass.

"Thanks to him, I'm going to have a black eye for the next month," Fin grumbled.

"Poor baby," Melinda replied sarcastically.

"How did you find this guy in the first place?" Rollins asked. They were met with silence.

"Long story," Fin sighed. "It started when-"

"Oh my God!" Alex said, interrupting the detective. The team noticed that she was staring intently at the glass. Her eyes had widened a little bit. "I can't believe it's him."

"Alex, you know him?" Olivia asked, slightly shocked.

**The Answer to Olivia Benson's Question  
>She knew him.<br>She was terrified of him.**

Olivia wasn't the only one reuniting with a person from her past.  
>The only difference is unlike Olivia, Alex hoped to never see this person again.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Another idea that came to me, and I enjoyed the concept. Hopefully, you all enjoyed as well. Thank you for reading. I'll be sure to update soon. I hope everybody has a happy new year. I have a good feeling about 2012. Do you?<em>


	2. Chapter 2

Elliot Stabler sighed, as he stood in the empty squad room. If he didn't know any better, he would say that everybody was avoiding him, or having to talk to him.

**A Fact  
>Everyone was avoiding him.<strong>

He knew he couldn't avoid this day. The day he'd finally have to face everybody again. He just didn't think they'd turn on him so quickly. Sure, he hadn't handled the situation well, but he figured they'd understand. They were there. They had to understand just what he was going through. Especially Olivia. His former partner had always been so empathetic. She could understand anybody's action, no matter how ridiculous they might have been.

He sat in the chair of what used to be his desk. The picture of his kids had been replaced by a picture of a little girl. This seat must have belonged to his replacement. He had seen two new kids when he walked in. Both were standing up. He wondered which one was working with Olivia.

"Elliot," he heard a shocked voice say. Elliot knew that voice. It was a voice that had guided him, comforted him, and often yelled at him. It was a friend.

He turned his head to see the lawyer Casey Novak, standing there. She was smiling at him. It was a smile he hadn't seen all day. Not when Fin was talking to him at the crime scene, not when Melinda greeted him when she arrived to pick up the body. No, Casey gave him the smile of a friend.

"Casey Novak," he greeted, "Finally, someone who's not mad at me."

**A Moment where Elliot Stabler is Mistaken  
>Casey Novak was mad at him.<br>But she at least could relate to his actions.**

"Don't be stupid, Stabler," Casey replied, "I'm mad…I'm just the only one who can't complain to you."

It was three years ago. Casey committed a Brady violation. The last time anybody saw her was leaving the courtroom in disgrace. No explanation, no word on what was happening or where she was going. She was just gone. Her leaving was followed immediately by Kim Greyleck, a lawyer who seemed to hinder the team more then she helped them. He'd be lying if he said he didn't resent her a little bit for that. But he got over it. It helps that Alex had come back for about a year.

Was that what his replacement a hinder to the team? Had he left them with complete morons? They seemed to know what they were doing, having a handle on their situation that was presented to them. The angry man.

"So, do you know where everybody is?" Casey asked him, "Although…I supposed the better question is what has brought you to finally show your face around here?"

Their conversations was interrupted by a roaring laughter coming from one of the interrogation rooms. Both of them raised an eyebrow at the sound.

He had seen the swearing Russian being dragged into the into the room by three detectives. Laughter was certainly not the sound he expected to hear coming from that room. He wondered why.

* * *

><p>"Alex…where do you know this guy from?"<p>

Everybody noticed Alex Cabot look nervously into the angry man's face. A nervous smiled crept her lips, and she laughed. A very nervous laugh. Nobody could begin to picture what was running through her mind at her moment.

If Alex had her way, nobody would.

"It's…" she started. He was yelling. She should have realized he was here the moment she heard the Russian expletives. Why hadn't that brought in the alarm bells? "It's a really long story."

"Oh?" Everyone seemed to inquire. Everyone wanted to know why their lawyer was suddenly so fidgety. Alex was normally so fluent when it came to words, she was a master of words. But suddenly, with this man, she couldn't seem to form a sentence.

"I was…he um…it was night…my skirt got torn…I thought I was going to die…"

What Alex didn't realize that the few words she was able to get out gave her co-workers the wrong idea.

"Alex," came Olivia's soothing voice said. It was the exact same voice that she used when talking to victims. Alex realized this right away. "He didn't…_hurt _you, right?"

Alex realized that although her rambling made sense to her, as she was there when the incident happened, her choice of words had other implications.

"Oh! No! God no! He would never…at least, I don't think he would! No!"

**A Glimpse into Alex Cabot's Memory  
>She saw her friends running away through the moonlight.<br>She heard his angry voice yelling at them.  
>He had every reason to want to kill them.<br>Her skirt got caught on the chain-link fence.  
>She could feel him getting closer.<br>She'd never been more scared in her entire life.**

She was able to compose herself, and smiled. She laughed at her previous mistake.

"Sorry, it's just been so long, my memories flooded me. No, he's never touched me. It's actually quite a funny story."

"Is it now?" it was Amaro who asked this time. Alex smiled.

**The Story of The Angry Russian (Abridged)  
><em>By Alex Cabot<br>_When I was a little girl, my parents and I would vacation in a town called Greyton.  
>He lived in Greyton.<br>Since he was Russian and it was still the Cold War, all the kids called him Sovy.  
>He chased us.<br>On day, he got really mad at a group of us.  
>He was chopping firewood, and so he had an ax with him.<br>We thought he would kill us if he caught us this time.  
>My clothes got caught on a chain link fence escaping him.<br>The End**

She intentionally left out the reason _why _he got so angry with them that day. If she had her way, that part would never leave her memory.

Despite the fact the story wasn't complete, everybody was laughing. Even Olivia, who she hadn't seen laugh all day.

"He chased you with an ax?" Rollins exclaimed. More laughter.

"Alex, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Fin chuckled. Even through his darker skin, she could see his face turning red from laughing. Everybody was.

"Although it sounds like you had it coming," Amaro said. More laughter. Even Alex couldn't resist a chuckle.

"We did."

Just not for the reasons he thought.


End file.
